Results illustrated that, in Finnish ECEC settings, pedagogical activities are implemented by taking into account children’s interests and needs, identified through active observation, and that the environment is organised to encourage free play and promote children’s autonomy and initiative-taking, in line with national curricular guidelines and previous literature findings (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2019; Kangas et al., 2019; Koivula, Gregoriadis, Rautamies
& Grammatikopoulos, 2019; Vuorisalo, Raittila & Rutanen, 2018).
Teacher-guided play was described as a planned activity - when children were presented with new games or concepts at a specific time of the day - as well as a spontaneous activity - when educators considered it useful or necessary to guide children’s play. When not engaged in teacher-guided play, children were free to choose the activities and the classrooms to play in. Moreover, teacher-guided activities represented an opportunity to evaluate the child in a playful way. In this regard, Pyle, DeLuca, Danniels and Wickstrom (2020) outlined several strategies for educators to assess children during guided play as well as during free play, highlighting a range of play types concerned with developmental or academic goals.
Participation in children’s play was both the educator’s voluntary choice, when the latter intended to expand and enrich children’s game or intervene during conflict situations, and a spontaneous request of children themselves. In addition, active observation and deep knowledge of the children allowed for appropriate teacher’s intervention, which is at the core of participatory pedagogy (Hedges & Cooper, 2018).
Teacher’s intervention has been a controversial topic among play theorists, and teacher-directedness and child-centredness are sometimes considered opposite concepts. However, as put forward by Pyle and Danniels (2017), considering children’s interests and ability levels is a way for educators to ensure that guided games are still child-centred and engaging, without fearing that the activity becomes “less play”.
Reported as well as observed experiences revealed that educators purposefully and appropriately took part in child-initiated activities, providing useful information during make-believe play and supporting children’s imagination, consistent with existing literature findings (Bodrova & Leong, 2019;
Bodrova et al., 2019). Moreover, educators’ presence and intervention inspired children’s play with authentic and original knowledge, infecting them with enthusiasm, as Wood and Attfield (2005) suggested, and were beneficial to the play itself, promoting cooperation and communication, as put forward by Løndal and Greve (2015). Finally, children were found to involve the adult in numerous and different games, when they wished to be acknowledged, or when they wanted a co-player or needed support from a knowledgeable figure, as previous research outlined (Pramling-Samuelsson & Johansson, 2009; Tsai, 2015).
Educators also showed to be aware of the power relations that exist in children’s free play and that may lead to conflict situations, as Wood (2014) highlighted. Conflict in kindergartens, defined as “a situation in which two or more children have a misunderstanding caused by the incompatibility of their interests in a given activity”, could be a consequence of wanting to play with the same toy or to be the first to do something, or be a negative reaction to other children’s presence in the game (Wiegerová & Navrátilová, 2019, p. 778). In such
situations educators reported acting as mediators, without imposing a solution, and prompting children’s problem-solving and social skills. Church, Mashford-Scott and Cohrssen (2018) observed that enabling children to come up with their own solution, if needed by modelling the desired behaviour, can concretely improve problem-solving skills and lead to a stronger agreement with the negotiated solution and a greater likelihood that children would re-enact the same strategies in future conflicts.
All educators stated that play is a vehicle for young children to learn and described playful learning activities as encompassing all the areas of development (socio-emotional, cognitive and motor skills), in accordance with the guidelines of the Finnish National Core Curriculum for ECEC 2018, which focuses on broad developmental outcomes, rather than academic ones (Bennet, 2005; Finnish National Agency for Education, 2019; Kangas et al., 2019). Equally important for learning and exploration was the outdoor environment and the relationship with nature from the early childhood stage (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2019; Nitecki & Chung; 2016).
Educators’ beliefs about playful learning reflected the operational culture that characterises Finnish ECEC settings: play was a key method to implement pedagogical activities and to enhance learning opportunities, establishing a positive and relaxed atmosphere and strengthening the relationships between children as well as between children and educators (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2019). Moreover, it was found that the fun and enjoyment experienced during playful learning activities were shared among children and educators, and that the latter employed different approaches to learning and allowed for varied and rich educational experiences, consistent with previous findings in Finnish kindergartens and primary schools (Hyvönen, 2011).
Playful learning activities were both teacher-directed - when the adult guided children through the different steps of a new or difficult activity - and child-led – when the educator introduced learning opportunities on the spot or when children independently performed a game they had mastered.
Furthermore, music and movement were found to be present in numerous
playful learning activities: songs were reported to capture children’s attention and facilitate learning, and P.E. time was said to be an occasion for educators to plan several fun and creative games, which focused on different developmental skills. As put forward by Niland (2009) music engages young children on multiple levels, physically, vocally, cognitively, socially, emotionally and creatively and a playful child-centred approach to music would benefit children, for example, by allowing them to creatively expand their favourite songs with new lyrics or melody, to freely explore sounds or to design personalised musical materials. Similarly, an appropriate planning of physical activity experiences contributes to the holistic development of the child, and early childhood educators are advised to implement varied and elaborate P.E. programmes and not to relegate physical activity just to outdoor time or free play (Lu & Montague, 2016).